Sockets and Socketing

- second edition


Table of Contents
- [1] The Basics
- [2] Socket Rules
- [3] Socketing at Larzuk
- [4] Socketing in the Horadric Cube
- [5] The "Ethereal Armor Bug"


[1] The Basics

The Arreat Summit website has the very basics of socketed items,

• http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/socketeditems.shtml

Summarising the main points below.

Socketable Items

• Headgear
• Body armor
• Weapons (except throwing weapons)
• Shields

How to get Sockets

• Have an item spawn with sockets
• Use the Larzuk quest reward on an unsocketed item
• Use a Horadric Cube recipe on an unsocketed item to generate sockets via socketing or rerolling

Maximum Sockets !
We need to distinguish between the 'inherent maximum sockets' (the maximum sockets possible for the base item), and the 'maximum sockets' for a particular item we might come across.

• Maximum sockets are either less than or equal to the inherent maximum sockets
• Inherent maximum sockets : http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/weaponsandarmor.shtml ('Sockets')

These two should NOT be confused; one of the most common mistakes is to always assume inherent maximum sockets from Larzuk, so make sure you understand what follows in section [2].

Question is, How do we know the maximum number of sockets that item X can have ? The answer lies within a set of rules that govern how socketing works.


[2] Socket Rules

Concerning sockets, there are effectively 3 restrictions at work; the internal level (ilvl) of an item, the item magic quality, and difficulty (items spawning with sockets in Normal and Nightmare).

ilvl tiers
The internal level of an item, commonly known as the "item level" (ilvl), restricts the number of sockets according to ilvl tiers. As far as sockets go, ilvls are broken down into a set of 3 ilvl tiers,
1-25, 26-40, and 41+. Each individual base item has its own number of maximum sockets for each ilvl tier (note that we are not talking about inherent maximum sockets here, just max sockets).

For instance, a Crystal Sword has max sockets: 3/4/6, meaning: ilvls 1-25 (max 3 sockets), ilvls 26-40 (max 4 sockets), and ilvls 41+ (max 6 sockets).

On a sidenote, this is also the reason why a Crystal Sword socketed at Larzuk will never get 5 sockets. Larzuk always adds the maximum sockets, based on the ilvl tiers (more on Larzuk in [3]).
There is a neat compiled resource listing the max sockets in table form for each base item,

Max Socket Table

• http://brentmcclintock.net/diablo/guides/socket%20tables.aspx

As an example from the table, it is seen that a Mage Plate will always receive 3 sockets, regardless of ilvl. Of course, it may still spawn with less than 3 sockets.

Item Magic Quality
The item magic quality, i.e. magic, rare, set, unique, crafted, limits the maximum sockets that may be added by socketing a currently unsocketed item.

• Magic items: 1-2 sockets
• Rare, set, unique, crafted items: 1 socket

How about those magic items with 3 or even 4 sockets ? They are instances of items spawning with sockets which is entirely different from sockets added by socketing an item. To wit,

• Magic items: 1-4 sockets ("Mechanic's", "Artisan's", "Jeweler's")
• Rare, crafted items: 1-2 sockets ("Mechanic's")

Certain set and unique items spawn with sockets as a magic property. Examples include Griswold's Redemption (3-4 sockets), Immortal King's Will (2 sockets), and Witchwild String (2 sockets).

Difficulty Setting
Items spawning with sockets in Normal and Nightmare (grey items, to be certain) have a limit on sockets set by difficulty,

• In Normal you will not find anything with more than 3 sockets
• In Nightmare you will not find anything with more than 4 sockets

To illustrate the difference between adding sockets to an unsocketed item and spawning with sockets, suppose we had an ilvl 28 Crystal Sword drop from Normal (might be from the
Secret Cow Level). It could never spawn with more than 3 sockets (Normal), however, if it is unsocketed, you could get 4 sockets (!), either from Larzuk or by socketing it in the Horadric Cube.

Finally, if an item already has sockets, you cannot alter the number of sockets unless that item is magic or rare in which case it may be rerolled in the Horadric Cube (see [4]). This could either
generate sockets in the new item or result in an item without sockets. Usually the latter.


[3] Socketing at Larzuk

This is straightforward once we have understood the rules in the previous section.

• Larzuk will add sockets only if the item is unsocketed and socketable (see section [1])
• Larzuk will add the maximum number of sockets possible to a low quality/normal/superior item, be it white or grey (ethereal). The ilvl tiers apply !
• Larzuk will add 1 or 2 sockets randomly (50/50 odds) to a magic item, provided the item allows 2 sockets. Otherwise he will add 1 socket always
• Larzuk will add 1 socket only to rare, set, unique, and crafted items
• Larzuk will add the same number of sockets, no matter if you use the quest reward in Normal, Nightmare, or Hell

Therefore, WHEN SOCKETING Low-quality/normal (plain white)/superior ITEMS AT LARZUK, IT PAYS TO REMEMBER WHERE YOU FOUND THE ITEM (that is, drop location).

Section [3] of the Crafting Handbook lists the simple relations giving ilvl in terms of mlvl (monster level) and Alvl (area level).


[4] Socketing in the Horadric Cube

Horadric Cube socket recipes from the Arreat Summit website,

• http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/cube.shtml

Numbered below for reference.


Some comments to the above recipes,

1)
Unless you play classic, this is a waste of 3 Perfect Skulls + SoJ. Larzuk does it almost for free (kill Shenk the Overseer).

2) - 4)
Provided the base item allows 2 sockets, each recipe adds 1 or 2 sockets randomly (50/50 odds). Otherwise 1 socket. The sockets are not added as a socket prefix; they are added via the
recipe itself. Socket prefixes cannot spawn when using these recipes.


THUS, AN UNSOCKETED MAGIC ITEM MUST BE SOCKETED AT LARZUK IF YOU WISH TO ADD SOCKETS WITHOUT HAVING THE AFFIXES (PREFIXES, SUFFIXES) REROLLED


5) - 8)
The item gets 1-6 sockets randomly, BUT the number of sockets is restricted by the maximum sockets for that item (meaning: the ilvl tiers apply). So if the item allows, say at most 4 sockets,
you will not get 5 or 6 sockets. Even if a roll of the dice would return 5 or 6 sockets, you still get 4 sockets. In terms of odds, this necessarily means that you roll 4 sockets with a probability
of 50%, as rolling 4 sockets means '4, 5, or 6 sockets', each with a probability of 1/6.

Some of the odds listed on the Arreat Summit are incorrect. The basis for calculating the socket odds in each of the recipes 5) - 8) is 6 sockets regardless of the item. Even though headgear
could never get more than 3 sockets, and body armor and shields no more than 4, the base of 6 is still used when determining the odds (see below).

9)
'Unsocket' means that only the contents of the sockets are destroyed. The sockets themselves are retained.


Horadric Cube Socket Odds
(recipes 5-8 above)

Max 1 socket
1 socket: 6/6 (100%)

Max 2 sockets
1 socket: 1/6 (~ 16.7 %)
2 sockets: 5/6 (~ 83.3 %)

Max 3 sockets
1-2 sockets: 2/6 (~ 33.3 %), 1/6 each
3 sockets: 4/6 (~ 66.7 %)

Max 4 sockets
1-3 sockets: 3/6 (= 50 %), 1/6 each
4 sockets: 3/6 (= 50 %)

Max 5 sockets
1-4 sockets: 4/6 (~ 66.7 %), 1/6 each
5 sockets: 2/6 (~ 33.3 %)

Max 6 sockets
1-6 sockets: 1/6 each


[5] The "Ethereal Armor Bug"

Concerning the use of recipes 5), 7), and 8) above, Ernir @ Battle.net Forums had this to say,

• http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=d2-general&t=1312543&p=1&#post1312543

Just to make it perfectly clear, the bug adds 50% to the defense of the ethereal armor, which means the base item defense (non-eth) is actually scaled by a factor of 2.25 (1.5*1.5), a 125% increase.
Without this "feature", it would be impossible to create a 4k+ defense body armor (Fortitude, Stone).

Larzuk Cannot Glitch Ethereal Armor
Since recipes 5), 7), and 8) do not work with low-quality or superior items, you might be tempted to suggest having Larzuk glitch your ethereal superior armor. Well, he can't. Though the item will receive
sockets, the defense is not further enhanced. The ethereal glitch concerns the Horadric Cube, not Larzuk. Hence, there is no such thing as a "superior eth bugged armor".

Rerolling to get Sockets
The following recipes have to do with rerolling items. Unlike the previous recipes, 1) - 9), they do not guarantee sockets, but they can potentially result in socket prefixes and are therefore included here
for completeness.


The Arreat Summit is wrong about 'Character Level 84' in recipe 13. It should read 86; gambled items have ilvls ranging from clvl - 5 to clvl + 4, and every +2 [class] skills prefix requires at least ilvl 90
to spawn on a magic amulet (same goes for rare and crafted amulets).


Acknowledgments

I did not discover the rules that govern how sockets are applied to items. Rather, I have shamelessly exploited posterboy's guide from the Battle.net Forums in an effort to collect all information here,
as well as to present it in a different way.

• Sockets and Socketing by posterboy : http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=d2-general&t=1353173

Read and use whichever you prefer.

Bump !

great job once again!

nice, useful information to lots of people, should be stickied along with the others you've done

Bump !

Bump !

I have this link in my notes.I love it!!!

Here are two more cube recipes you may want to consider adding in future iterations:

1 Eld Rune + 1 Chipped Gem + Low Quality Weapon = Normal Quality Weapon of same type ilvl = 1. That is, regardless of what the ilvl was beforehand, it will be set to 1.

1 El Rune + 1 Chipped Gem + Low Quality Armor = Normal Quality Armor of same type

This is useful at times. I've used it more than once to repair a "low quality" Archon Plate, then socket at Larzuk to get 3 sockets (as ilvl 1-24 Archon Plates get 3 sockets and 25+ get 4 sockets when taken to Larzuk). I'm sure some people could find other uses for these forumulas for various runewords.